The successor to the world’s most popular Windows Phone device, Nokia Lumia 520, is here. Lumia 525 is Nokia’s attempt to refine the 520 and address its shortcomings without increasing the price. At Rs 10,399, the 525 is priced competitively and is more powerful than its predecessor. Let’s see how much of a difference that makes to your experience, should you choose to buy it.

Design: It is hard to tell the Lumia 520 and 525 apart. The two phones have the same dimensions, weigh the same and look the same. The buttons are in the same place, just like the charging and audio ports. But when you hold them, you will notice the difference. The Lumia 520′s body is made of glossy plastic (unless you get a black 520), which means it is slippery. The 525 has a different finish, which provides better grip. One complaint is that the lock button feels a little weak. Many 520 users complained of the button going soft after six to eight months of use. Let’s hope that users don’t face the same problem with the 525. Nokia’s bright colours have become distinctive now.

Display: The 4-inch screen has with a resolution of 800×480 pixels. This is good enough for reading, watching videos and gaming. When you’re using the phone in bright sunlight, you’ll have trouble reading on the screen. Of course, a higher resolution would have been welcome, but you won’t notice it unless you are downgrading from an expensive phone with a better display. When you tilt the phone a bit, you’ll notice white light bleeding from the top. This is a minor annoyance, which you’ll not notice unless you look for it.

Performance: Having 1 GB RAM greatly improves gaming performance. Last year, several developers had to optimise their games to run on phones with 512 MB RAM because of the Lumia 520. There will be no such issue this year. Games such as Temple Run 2, Rail Rush and Angry Birds Go! are playable on the Lumia 525, although minor stutters were noticed some times. The phone did not show any lags when running several applications and switching between them.